Armoured faun
Albert TUCKER: artist
Albert Tucker was part of a group of Melbourne artists who, in their search for an art reflective of Australian themes, challenged assumptions about painting in this country in the mid-20th century. Seeking to develop paintings that addressed national identity, they sought subject matter from Australia’s past, such as incidents from the lives of Ned Kelly and the ill-fated explorers Burke and Wills. Tucker was fascinated by the drama and tragedy of those lives, and developed motifs in his paintings which became embodiments of the struggle between humans and the harsh Australian environment. Armoured faun is an example of Tucker’s portrayal of the tension between the physical and the emotional whereby the figure is no longer ‘in’, but ‘of’, the landscape.
Title
Armoured faun
Artist/Maker and role
Albert TUCKER: artist
Date
1965
Medium
pva on composition board
Measurements
122.0 x 91.0cm
Credit line
Gift of Barbara Tucker under the Commonwealth Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2004
© Albert & Barbara Tucker Foundation. Courtesy of Smith & Singer Fine Art.
The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia
Accession number
2004/0155